FortisAlberta buys community's distribution system

One Alberta community has sold its electricity distribution system to FortisAlberta Inc.

On January 22, the Town of Fort Macleod, Alta., approved the sale of the town’s electricity distribution system to FortisAlberta Inc. for $4.77 million.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to partner with the Town of Fort Macleod in this endeavour and we thank the council and the residents for the time and energy they devoted to the consultation and community engagement process,” said Karl Bomhof, President and CEO, FortisAlberta. “Moving forward, our priority is to continue to work with the town and residents to ensure a seamless transition of ownership.”

FortisAlberta has been providing electricity service in Alberta, including the area surrounding Fort Macleod for over a century, said the Mayor of Fort Macleod, Brent Feyter, who is confident that this sale is in the interests of town.

“They have the expertise and resources to ensure the long-term reliability of our system and to provide the safe, cost-effective service our residents require,” said Feyter.

“Throughout the consultation process it was important to council that we provide open, transparent communication and engagement with our residents,” he continued. “FortisAlberta was an effective partner in this process and they demonstrated respect for our community as we worked towards this important decision. At the end of the day, it is the right thing for us to do financially and we look forward to the benefits our community will receive as a result of the sale.”

The transfer and sale of the distribution system is subject to regulatory approval by the Alberta Utilities Commission. This transfer will allow the residents of Fort Macleod to receive the benefit of the company’s 24/7 customer care centre; centralized Operations Control Centre; and FortisAlberta’s robust storm and outage response services.